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1943-10-12 - A Shattering Loss
October 12, 1943 Somewhere near the Dzhugdzhur Mountains in Eastern Siberia, Russia, USSR The Invaders had dropped from a stealth recon plane loaned to them by the Brits and MI-6 just for this mission. Now they were on their own. And on their own meant in the snow-- the early snowfall was already a foot deep and rising as the thick flakes fall among the woodline and beyond. The HYDRA base was once a mining village in the foothills of the mountains, but the nearby gold mine had petered out a few years before the war, and the residents had since left for more productive mines to the north and south. Now, jack-booted thugs in green uniforms and automatic weapons stalk the village streets. The main entrance to the mine is heavily guarded. Whatever HYDRA was doing, it couldn't be good. The intelligence that the Invaders had been given had mentioned a weapon that would be able to destroy a large chunk of eastern Russia (perhaps more) and make it entirely uninhabitable afterwards. And that two of HYDRA's primary leadership was present, inspecting the weapon before it was launched. The Human Torch and Toro had already begun making their way around to cover any incursions from above; leaving the bulk of the fighting, initially at least, to Captain America, Bucky, and Namor the Sub-Mariner. Captain America's voice is hushed as he speaks to his teammates, "Namor, Toro and the Torch have air superiority duties, they'll take out anything that gets off the ground. I need you to do what you do best and pound any Panzers you see into pancakes. Disable any ground transport trying to get away if you can, too. Maybe we can kill three birds with one stone and capture a couple of HYDRA's biggest heads while we deal with this weapon they've cooked up." Steve looks to Bucky and notes, "Namor and I are the distraction. Once we've got 'em good and whipped up, you're on recon-in-force on the interior. Just yell if things get too hot, or when you find what we're looking for, all right, partner?" He looks between the two men, "Let's go!" The youngest man of the entire group gives a curt nod of his, "Right, Cap," he agrees sincerely; youth does not mean lack of ability, in Bucky's case. "I'll make my way in as soon as they're distracted." He grins, confidently, "They won't know what hit 'em." And, as soon as Steve and Namor are moving forwards, "I'll keep my eyes peeled," he promises. Namor looks almost bored, though the slightly narrowed eyes he glances towards Cap give lie to the boredom and indicate a vague irritation. Still, he nods, and the Atlantean mutant breaks away from the pair, moving towards the far side of the village where the motorpool seems to be parked. They are about to have a bad day, courtesy of a certain Sub-Mariner. Even over the snow, Prince Namor can move very quickly, and the first of the numerous distractions begins with the lifting of one of the three panzer tanks... and it being hurled forcefully into a second of them, exploding in a fiery blaze. Distraction, achieved. HYDRA agents begin firing in the direction of smoke and flames blindly, rushing towards the battle like lemmings. Thanks to the benefits of Dr. Erskine's Super-Soldier Serum, making it through the snow is quite a bit speedier and easier for Cap than normal folks, as well. He practically bounds through it, until he reaches the edge of where it's been cleared out by the HYDRA operations, and launches that famous red-white-and-blue disc of indestructible vibranium-based mystery alloy towards the nearest pocket of green-and-yellow clad soldiers. It strikes one, ricochets to a second, and then a third before angling back towards Cap, but he's already closed half the distance in that mere moment that the shield was gone from his grasp. He plucks it out of the air in mid-leap-, tucking into a mid-air somersault and uncurling just in time to bring the disc down on top of the head of yet another HYDRA Soldier, before dropping into a sweep-kick that takes a fifth right off his feet, finished with a powerful punch to his noggin once he's down...then it's on to the next pocket of targets, shield-forward to deflect the no-doubt incoming fire. What good is Cap, if not a human snow-plow and shield? Bucky follows int Cap's path, allowing the much stronger, much larger man burrow and plow through the snow until the cleared area is reached, at which point his own gun is aimed a HYDRA goon off to Cap's right - the two men having fought at each other's side for far long enough they don't even have to read each other, they know what the other is going to do more or less. Between all the gunfire, it's doubtful that anyone even sees the mook's head rock back as the bullet is put between his eyes and Bucky's slipping over to the side, going around corner-cover to snap someone else's arm and slam their head into the vehicle that he was hiding behind that Bucky now deems fit to use for cover, but not before he takes the other's pistol. It'll save him from having to reload later. It's tucked into his belt. So is the knife. He watches Namor, and Cap deal their damage, waiting for his moment. "It's Captain America!" a shout comes from one of the HYDRA agents, and a couple of them begin to make their way towards the main entrance of the mines. Namor is wrecking his way through the remainder of the motorpool, green-and-yellow HYDRA agents flinging out of his way. The entrance to the mine is currently only guarded by a quartet of HYDRA goons, though they are heavily armed and armored. Cap snatches one grenade from his web gear, launching it towards the more heavily armored HYDRA soldiers at the entrance, then quickly follows it up with another one...and then a toss of the shield to ricochet off of whoever's left standing as he charges in to finish them off. "Looks like they left the front door open." He spares a glances skyward to see Toro incinerate a HYDRA vehicle above, casually backswiping one of the HYDRA mook's who's struggling to his feet with his shield. Waiting until the debris clears, Bucky dashes into the smoke and ruin; slamming the knife into a HYDRA agent running out to see what caused the explosion and all the gunfire; timing is everything and Bucky has it on his side right now. He's in, and ducking as bullet-fire comes at him, boucning off the walls where his head was just a second ago. He shoots a few rounds at the direction of the shooter, and there's a scream that's then silenced as the bullets first tear through the knee, and then the head. Then Bucky's moving into the interior, quietly as he can, headed to their target. To get the plans, or knowledge of the device they're here to find out about. Inside the base preparations swing into high gear as the alarms sound. Red Skull dressed in a long black coat stands in the control center glaring down at the device that is being moved into position above the pit that has been dug through the base of the mountain. It was moving too slowly, if it was indeed the Invaders who were attacking it may already be too late. "Zola!" he shouts turning from the window. "When the device is in place, deploy immediately," he says before he takes out his pistol and turns to one of his green suited men. "You, take your men down the main passage, kill anyone you find," he says. The man snaps to attention both hands held high. "Hail Hydra!" he shouts before he turns head out of the control center. Red Skull nods and the man leaves with a squad of eight other Hydra soldiers, heading towards where Bucky is making his entrance. Red Skull for his part, heads to the armoury to get a surprise ready for the Invaders. Armin Zola almost squeaks a reply. Almost. But then he nods to Skull before the man leaves, then loses himself in the preparations. This sort of thing wasn't his real specialty, after all, but he was a scientist, and one who prided himself of varying knowledge for knowledge's sake. Still, while the drill continued its messy work, driving further underneath the mountains, Zola's attention falters for a moment to make sure his own escape plans are well in order. "Soon..." he murmurs to himself, glancing back to the explosive device, already set and poised to drop down the shaft, "Soon you will be released, my dear little friend, and a chain-reaction that will blow every mountain in this range and more will be your gift to the world! HAIL HYDRA!" Captain America follows Bucky into the interior of the base, but breaks off in a different direction from him. He intends to be as noisy and "annoying" as possible so as to draw defenders away from where Bucky might be headed. So to that effect, he starts barrelling through whichever HYDRA soldiers he can find with near-ruthless efficiency, making sure to toss a few grenades here and there and otherwise make quite a ruckus. Yoo hoo, Mr. Skull and friends! Captain America's over here! Two more quickshots, two more Nazi goons dead, before Bucky is taking cover, reloading both pistols. It takes him a few moments, but there aren't many who can load a gun faster than him. Then, he's moving up, slowly, to scan his surroundings, and viewing the first few soldiers that are with Zola as they round the corridor in the main passage, Bucky takes two shots - not at the soldiers, but at the two lights down the corridor, sinking the passage into a dark blackness. Then, another three shots, to start thinning out their numbers, before he neatly, and quietly moves his position, hoping to have the advantage on them when they turn their gunfire on where he'd shot from. Cap's grenades have the desired effect. The explosions and the shouts of Hydra goons and technicians draws attention to where the Sentinel of Liberty is making his attack. One who;s attention is drawn is Red Skull. The sinister master of Hydra walks from the heavy metal doored armoury and strides towards the distruption. Spotting a flash of red, white and blue amidst the chaos he smiles "Ah, herr Kapitan," he says as he lifts his weapon to his shoulder. It's some new type of ray-gun festooned with dials and switches and a glowing yellow coil in the front. He fires the weapon, carless of his men being in the way, and unleashes a hellish blast of yellow energy towards Captain America with a laugh. The darkness has somewhat of a desired effect-- the couple of HYDRA goons can't see Bucky, and they don't know where he's at. They fire blindly. "No no no! You fools!" Zola howls from the observation station above. One of the bullets from the green and yellow clad thugs wings the explosive device. A light on it lights up, and a ticking count-down begins-- a very, very short one. Less than two minutes. Zola's eyes widen, and he slams the button that will deploy it down into the shaft, before flipping the switch that would allow an announcement over the mine's loudspeaker system. "Device is active, one minute and thirty seconds until detonation." And then the squirrelly little rat of a scientist ducks out the back door of the observation deck towards his own method of escape. Cap sees the blast in time, brings his shield about, and is promptly propelled through the air by the force of the blast, slamming against a back wall, and dropping down to the ground. He shakes it off rather immediately though, launching his shield not towards the Skull, but rather his weapon, and meanwhile grabbing the first HYDRA goon rushing at him and giving his neck a quick "snap" before drawing his sidearm and plugging away at a couple others who thought they'd get the drop on Cap while he's Shield-less. Of course, he's as-yet unaware of impending doom. Bucky finishes off the rest of the rounds in the pistols from his new position, taking out the rest of Zola's little troupe that was supposed to 'deal with him' with concentrated intense look on his youthful features. He catches sight of Zola fleeing, but doesn't have time to chase the madman down, instead he's moving up to the observation tower, where Zola - and likely some remnants of some information is. Instead? He finds the reason Zola fled. And finds the bomb. It only takes him a few seconds to realize what the bomb is going to do, with it's wings deployed, near that shaft. And the decision is an easy one for a man like Bucky to make. He sets the bomb to detonate prematurely. He can't risk all the innocent lives in the countryside, good men and women in small villages in, and at the foot of the mountain. And his own life? A drop in the ocean. After promptly setting it to go off early, he picks up his walkie-talkie, speaks clearly into it. "Run. Save yourselves. Say goodbye to all the guys for me, Cap." A leering grin crosses the face of Red Skull at his death-ray's success. The only way it could have gone better is if it had killed Captain America. However, there would be time for that. He turns one of the dials to full and aims down the corridor Captain America was thrown "Goodbye Kapitan!" he calls out before Zola's announcement echoes through the mine. What? That was not the plan. He looks up at the explosive being set above the shaft and sees the damage. "No! No! No! You FOOLS!!" he shouts but suddenly his attention is ripped from the explosive as Captain America's shield hammers into the death-ray clutched in his hand. The two weapons meet with clang of metal on metal and the ray is thrown to the ground, electricity arcing from within as the power source overloads. Thinking quickly Red Skull ducks as the weapon blows, shards of hot metal dig into his flesh but the Supreme Hydra rises, spitting blood onto the ground. The bomb would not detonate in time to achieve their goals, but he could still snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. He moves to a doorway, and producing a key sticks into a hole and turns. More alarms sound and as they do, steel doors slowly begin to close off the bomb chamber dooming everyone who was still inside. "What? Bucky?!?" Steve catches his shield on the return bounce, moving forward down the corridor in the direction the Skull was. The doors have already slammed shut by the time he sees them, and with a snarl, Steve launches his shield at the wounded Skull once more as he vaults over a railing, a foot catching a Hydra Goon across the jaw as he goes. And thus Bob's grandfather would forever be known as "Slack-jawed Joe" since the broken mandible never healed quite properly. But we digress. Steve bears down on the Skull at the best speed he can muster, instinctively avoiding the fire directed at him thanks to years of training and experience. He's fully intending to follow up that shield with a heck of a beatdown if he can close with Schmidt. Red Skull runs once the key has been turned but not fast enough! Cap's shield hit's him in the back sending him sprawling into some of his men who were fleeing ahead of him. "Shoot damn you, shoot!" he shouts at the men even as he grabs one of their weapons and fires off a spray of bullets down the corridor. He turns as the shots echo in the hall and he runs, under normal circumstances there would be no doubt in Red Skull's demented mind that he could hope to out run Captain America, but, now, Red Skull was bleeding, shrapnel still protruding from his back. He would have to rely more on strenght to win, so he ducks around a corner gripping the empty weapon in both hands and waits to ambush the Captain and batter him into submission. "The base is going to blow, Cap. You'd better get everyone and move. Now." Bucky's running though, finding the way out -- locked, thanks to the Skull. He moves to the back of the room, as far away from the bomb as he can, after moving to try each of the ways out. And there is no other way to run. He knows what's going to happen, it was likely unavoidable. He knew that, but ... there's no regret. "Go." He manages to keep his voice calm. As calm as he can, in a situation like this. And... The explosion rocks the mines, rocks clattering down from the ceilings. Several of the corridors collapse completely. Steve drops to a slide that takes him right underneath the swing that the Skull launches at him, and even as he rises to his feet, the shield launches again, ricocheting off the Skull's chest at full force, and nearly point-blank range, right back into Steve's hand, the better for him to SLAM the Skull against the wall in a charge, sandwiched with the indestructible shield. He even throws in a headbutt, since he knows that'd be the Skull's next tactic to try to gain some distance. But the explosion may be what saves the Skull this day, as the rocking of the building causes Steve to stagger back a few paces, and then a few large chunks of rock fall, causing Steve to lift his shield to protect his head...with the mini-boulders crashing to the ground between the Skull and Captain America. Now might be his only opportunity for escape, as Steve seems to realize what just happened. "Bucky...?" His voice is quiet, and then his expression hardens, and he -glares- at Johann Schmidt. For perhaps the first time, Captain America's greatest foe will see murder in his enemy's eyes.... Red Skull grunts out a curse as he's struck once, then twice, and finally a third time. He pushes back against the shield until the explosion rocks the cave and the pressure on his chest is replaced with the opportunity for escape. The rocks fall, and skull begins to move. He crouches low by a fallen soldier and rips a grenade from his belt. He turns meeting Captain America's murderous look and with a grim smile "Don't look so sad Kaptian," he says the last words murmured around the pin of the grenade as he pulls it with his teeth. "You'll be joining your young Bucky soon," then he rolls the grenade towards Cap and flees down a corridor branching away to the right to escape the blast and indeed (he hopes) Captain America. As fast as Cap is, the Skull knows his timing. Not enough to scoop the grenade up and toss it unless he wants to lose an arm or worse. So Steve leaps back, curling up as much behind his shield as possible before the blast goes off. A few fragments will pepper his legs, but nothing too terribly serious. Another scream of frustration marks the Skull's escape as Steve rolls back onto his feet, coming up in a defensive posture. He quickly realizes that most of the HYDRA goons are fleeing or already down, and moves to those steel doors, placing a hand against them and bowing his head for a moment. No tears fall...time enough for that later... Still, he gives himself...and his dearest friend...as many moments as he can spare, before turning away, a determined expression on his face, and sprints in the direction the Skull disappeared. He may not catch up, but he's sure going to try, and if he doesn't catch him today? Then he'll catch him tomorrow, or the next day. Bucky won't have died in vain...Steve's going to make damn sure of that. Category:Historical Log